US tells Google computers can qualify as drivers

Detroit

US vehicle safety regulators have said the artificial intelligence system piloting a self-driving Google car could be considered the driver under federal law, a major step towards ultimately winning approval for autonomous vehicles on the roads.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) told Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc, of its decision in a previously unreported Feb 4 letter to the company posted on the agency's website this week.

Google's self-driving car unit on Nov 12 submitted a proposed design for a self-driving car that has "no need for a human driver", the letter to Google from NHTSA chief counsel Paul Hemmersbaugh said. "NHTSA will interpret 'driver' in the context of Google's described motor vehicle design as referring to the (self-dri…